Tag: occupy

Sir John Major warned that if a “very aggressive” Russia was to “succeed in their adventure in Ukraine, no doubt they would be elsewhere before too long”.

He suggested that “if America behaves in this fashion and retreats towards isolation, she leaves the door open to China and Russia”.

“And the free world, I believe, now fears that America, with all her great power and prestige and all that she has done to keep the world safe in recent years, may now be turning her back on the international responsibilities she has previously taken.”

In a pessimistic assessment of the state of the world, he said: “There’s no doubt in my mind that democracy is threatened. It’s been in modest decline for the last 18 years. There’s an ugly nationalism growing mostly from the intolerant right.”

Steve Witkoff, Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, has confirmed he will travel with national security advisor Mike Waltz to Saudi Arabia today for talks on how to end Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Speaking to Fox News as he issued the first official confirmation that talks would take place, Mr Witkoff said he hopes to make “really good process” in regard to the Ukraine war.

He also confirmed that US officials had spoken with Ukrainian officials, confirming they would be a “part of the talks”.

After US defence secretary Pete Hegseth told Western allies on Wednesday that European security is no longer an American priority, concern over the Trump administration’s commitment to Nato is higher than ever.

Donald Trump recently suggested the US would not protect Nato allies who did not spend enough on defence, reportedly telling allies he would “encourage” Russia to attack any Nato member that failed to meet the alliance’s target of 2% of their GDP.

The future of the Western military alliance, which was formed after the Second World War to guarantee security against the Soviet Union, has never faced bigger questions.

The US is the most powerful member of Nato, spending far more on defence than any other ally and outweighing allies in its military muscle.

As a result, the US calls the shots. But those close to the Trump administration have long questioned how much Nato membership serves in America’s interest, with European allies ostensibly failing to spend as much as they should on defence.

Earlier this week, former US National Security Advisor John Bolton told Tom Swarbrick on LBC that it is “highly probable that Trump will try and withdraw the United States from NATO”.

No one can say for sure whether a president as unpredictable as Trump will pull the US out of Nato – but he will certainly make the US a far more prickly member of the alliance than it was under former presidents.

During the first overseas trip in his official post, Hegseth also said Wednesday that Ukraine’s NATO membership was off the table.

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Speaking to the BBC’s The World This Weekend, former prime minister John Major said: “The President’s phone call to Putin, in which we learned that negotiations to end the war would start immediately. There had been no consultation with Ukraine or anyone else.

“He then made concessions to Russia, which I think is fairly unprecedented, having made perfectly clear that the US troops would not defend Ukraine, that Russia might be able to keep land that Putin had taken by force, that Ukraine would not be able to join Nato.

“These were all unilateral remarks from the present administration in the United States to the world.

“Yet consider what happens if Russia can claim a win: China is going to notice that, and so will the world, and so will every tin-pot dictator around the world.

“If America is not to stand behind its allies in the way the world has previously seen, then we are moving into a wholly different and in my view, rather more dangerous world.”

The United States has asked its European allies what they would need from Washington to participate in Ukraine security arrangements and to outline how they see lasting guarantees, according to a document seen by Reuters.

The document, consisting of six points and questions, also asks which countries could contribute to the guarantees, would be willing to deploy troops to Ukraine as part of a peace settlement, and the size of any European-led force.

It also asks what governments would be prepared to do to increase sanctions on Russia, including more strictly enforcing existing ones.

A world in which the United States does not support its allies will be “rather more dangerous”, former prime minister Sir John Major warned.

He said democracy is under threat and “tin-pot dictators” would be emboldened if Donald Trump rushes into a peace deal that leaves Vladimir Putin in control of Ukrainian territory.

And he said if the US “retreats towards isolation” it would leave the door open for China and Russia to wield increased influence.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that the world is changing and that it’s reshaping, that it may not be reshaping in a way that’s congenial to the West and that it’s a very unsettled time indeed,” Sir John said.

“[Putin] doesn’t want any peace,” Mr Zelensky said. “But I think he’s really a little bit scared about President Trump, and I think the president has this chance and he’s strong, and I think that really he can push Putin to peace negotiations.”

However, he urged President Trump to maintain his loyalty towards Ukraine when approaching ceasefire negotiations.

“I wanted very much that Ukraine is in [the]priority for Trump, not Russia. And I hope that we are more important,” the Ukrainian president said. “We are not so big as Russia, but I think strategically, Ukraine is more important for the United States, because we are really partners, allies, and we share common values.”

Zelensky also made it clear that he would never accept a peace deal negotiated by the U.S. and Russia without Ukraine having an equal place at the table

“I will never accept any decisions between the United States and Russia about Ukraine, never,” Zelenskyy told ‘Meet the Press’ moderator Kristen Welker on Friday in Munich, Germany. “This is the war in Ukraine, against us, and it’s our human losses.”

He added: “There is no any leader in the world who can really make a deal with Putin without us about us.”

Zelensky also said he told Trump not to trust Putin, and stressed that America, Europe, Ukraine and Russia all needed to be involved in ceasefire deals.

The Ukrainian president said the Russia was counting on the US military support for Europe diminishing, and that would enable him to attack former Soviet countries.

He said: “I will believe that the United States will not take its forces, its contingents from Europe because that will severely weaken NATO and the European continent. Putin definitely counts on that.

“And the fact that we receive information that he will think of the invasion against former Soviet republics. And forgive me, but today these are NATO countries.”

Without Trump and the US administration’s support in Ukraine, Zelensky said they had a “low chance to survive”, having already endured a three-year long war which has seen them concede 20 per cent of their territory to Moscow’s forces.

“And even if I will look at the army of Russia, if they will see it that they, Russia, have 220 or 250 brigades, and Europe has 50. That is the answer. The risk that Russia will occupy Europe is 100 per cent,” he warned.